House on the Hill.

Chapter 21. drinking on Piggy

At the age of nine I stole a bottle of cider from the co- operative corner shop at the top of Derwent Road where I lived. Drinking was becoming a problem for me and was getting out of control and I didn't realise it at the time. My life was becoming unbearable. Drinking and getting into mischief was the only way I could cope with the constant beatings I was getting from my father and watching my mother suffering.
Whenever I was let out I used to get together with a few of my friends. I won't mention the names for obvious reasons. Let's just say there were a few of us. Mick, Liam, Stan and Smithy, all from Highfield where I lived. We were always getting into mischief, causing havoc with the locals by fighting at football matches following our beloved Bolton Wanderers. We became close friends right through our youth.
Any time I ever got out of the house we used to meet up at the shops at the top of Derwent Road. The first thing we did was to enter the co-operative shop and pretend we were buying something. Smithy would stay outside the shop and keep an eye out for the infamous Sergeant Swann. Mick would chat to the lady at the till to distract her. She was quite a big lady who was in her early 50s. Her name was June. I used to call her fatty June. She used to speak to my mum whenever they met in the street or in the shop. While Mick was talking to fatty June, me and Stan and Liam would shove bottles of cider under our coats and jumpers and just walk 89
out. We would then head to a place called 'Piggy' which was a small woodland and fields surround by a small lodge. There, we had a little den, it was made of wooden planks and bits of wood which we collected from a small building site. Inside the wooden den there were blankets which I had smuggled out of my house. It was very cosy and it kept us warm and dry from the inclement weather and prying eyes.
The drinking session only lasted for about three hours as I had to be back in my house for 8pm. Nevertheless, we drank four bottles of cider, between us. I started to feel unwell. I started to vomit profusely. I tried to get up but I fell over. Mick started to panic he started to shake me and kept repeating you look ill. After about 40 mins I started to come around. I couldn't remember anything. There was only Mick and Stan who stayed behind to look after me. The rest had disappeared. It was now 9.25 and I should have been home for 8 o'clock. I started to panic. I knew I was in serious trouble so I headed back home. I vomited all the way home. I arrived at my house nearly two hours late. It was nearly 10 o' clock. I knocked on the front door hoping and praying it would be my mum who answered it. But to my shock it was my father.
He screamed at the top of his voice, "Where have you been?"
Before I could get a word in edge ways he dragged me by my hair through the front door and started to hit me in the face. I was screaming at the top of my voice telling him I was sorry but he just carried on hitting me all over my body. It was only the intervention of my mum that stopped the beating getting any worst. My dad disappeared into the front room and I started to cry in my mum's arms. I was shaking with fear. I started to vomit again so my mum took me upstairs to the bath room. She wiped all the blood from my face and started to undress me. I was covered in blood and my body was bruised all over. My mum asked me if I had been drinking and I told her that I had. My mum just shook her head in disgust and started to cry which made me feel worse. I told my mum I was sorry and that it wouldn't happen again but of course I lied and it did. She washed me down and wiped all the blood off and put me in my pyjamas, she then kissed me on my left cheek and put me in to my bed. I looked around and my sister Pat and my brother Mark were fast asleep. I remember I didn't sleep too much that night as I was sore all over. I was banned from going out with my friends for two weeks. My mum took me to school and my mum picked me up after school. After I had my tea, I went straight to bed and this carried on for the whole two weeks.
After the ban, I was let out but I had to be back in for 7pm. I met up with my usual friends at the shops on Highfield. We couldn't go in the co-operative for any cider as my mum had put a stop to it. She had spoken with fatty June who had politely banned us all from entering the premises.
Stealing cider and beer from the shops was getting harder and harder so we started to travel further afield. I got caught by Sergeant Swann pinching some bottles of beer from Flanagan's paper shop. As usual I got a thick ear from him and a good pasting from my dad when he found out.
The beatings didn't stop and my drinking seemed to be getting worse. I didn't particularly like alcohol but the effect it had on me made me happy. In a way, it helped me to forget the suffering and the pain. I knew my mum was upset and it was wrong, what I was doing but I couldn't help myself or stop myself heading down the slippery path of self- destruction.